A columnist for New York offers an insider view of Clay Felker, the pioneering editor who founded that and other magazines,. Felker died Tuesday at the age of 82. Kurt Andersen writes that Felker "conceived the city magazine as a kind of gleeful, fervid, useful weekly chronicle of social and cultural anthropology. His inspiration was to cover the scrum and spectacle of urban life as if it were sport of the most interesting possible kind." A "hyperambitious" outsider, Felker deconstructed the city's life with clarity of vision and an unjaded shock and awe at the spectacle," says …

Universal Press Syndicate announced a partnership with Deviant Films to offer daily animated comics to newspaper Web sites. "Newspapers have been asking for more dynamic content for their Web sites, and this is the natural evolution for our comic properties," says Universal executive John Glynn. The animations provide newspaper sites with "an advertising opportunity to reach younger readers and provide a great source of traffic," he says. Animated Universal strips and panels include "The Argyle Sweater" by Scott Hilburn, "Lio" by Mark Tatulli and "Ink Pen" by Phil Dunlap.

NBC Universal is promoting Adam Stotsky, Sci-Fi Channel marketing executive, to president of NBC Entertainment marketing. He will report to John Miller, chief marketing officer of the NBC Universal Television Group. Through programs such as "Battlestar Galactica" and "Tin Man," Sci-Fi Channel has become a popular part of NBC's cable portfolio. Stotsky's promotion is evidence of the new challenges TV networks face in promoting their own shows. They must get the word out about their TV shows to viewers who skip ad breaks and watch TV in new venues, where on-air promos aren't relevant. To snag new …

Even as airlines are taking a bath with surging gas prices, in-flight video could provide a little financial relief. Revenue from in-flight video broadcasts is expected to grow from just $87 million in 2007 to $913 million in 2012, according to MultiMedia Intelligence. The research firm also expects in-flight broadband services--which haven't gotten off the ground yet--to generate $936 million in revenue by 2012. The numbers are based on the fact that air travelers tend to be a captive audience, although some observes say more travelers will bring their own in-flight entertainment: iPods or portable DVD players.

Nike said Monday that its advertising blitz at the Beijing Olympics will not be affected by the governments efforts to curtail "ambush marketing" by non-Olympic sponsors-such as Nike. While rival Adidas has invested millions to be an official sponsor of the Beijing Olympics, Nike is sponsoring only individual athletes and sports federations. According to Nike president Charlie Denson, his company will launch "a pretty prominent campaign that will run in China during the Olympics in all the different media vehicles." He goes on to say that Nike's close relationship with the Olympic federations, including designing a riding …

When E.W. Scripps splits up this week, the company's cable unit, including HGTV and the Food Network, will be freed from their troubled old-media cousins. The company's lifestyle cable networks and the Web extensions of those networks will make up a new entity called Scripps Networks Interactive, headed by Ken Lowe. With HGTV and Food Network as the foundation, SNI is looking to dominate the shelter and food categories on as many platforms as possible. The other new company created in the split, a "new" Scripps, will own Scripps' newspapers and television station assets. The needs of …

The Web site HowStuffWorks will begin its first promotional campaign this week using the cable channels, Web sites and TV video clips of its new parent company, Discovery Communications. Last fall, Discovery spent $250 million buying the United States portion of the online text and video encyclopedia. Discovery is making HowStuffWorks the cornerstone of its upgraded digital media strategy. So far, the company's digital media division has been unable to turn a profit. "To win in the future, Discovery needs to become a pure-play content company on all platforms," says David Zaslav, Discovery Communications chief. "This is …